Carmina Burana with Barts Choir
Hear Carl Orff’s ever-popular work, which sets medieval songs to music of barbaric splendour, together with two Vaughan Williams pieces.
Barts Choir presents three 20th-century classics.
Carl Orff’s most popular work was inspired by the composer’s discovery of a collection of medieval songs in Latin and Old German.
As he wrote later, ‘The goddess Fortuna must have been smiling on me when, as if by chance, she put a copy of a catalogue in my hands’. That catalogue contained the Carmina Burana (Songs of Beuren) texts.
Setting these revolutionised Orff’s own musical style, with simple tunes, driving rhythms, repeated bass figures and brilliant and percussive orchestrations, which influenced much later music, particularly for film and television.
The concert opens with Toward the Unknown Region, setting words by Vaughan Williams’ favourite poet, Walt Whitman, and concluding triumphantly with a blaze of choral and instrumental sound.
This is followed by his Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, where the composer takes the original Tudor hymn tune and transforms it into music of transcendent beauty and power.
Performers
Trafalgar Sinfonia
Ivor Setterfield conductor
Elizabeth Findon soprano
James Hall countertenor
Julien Van Mellaerts baritone
Barts Choir
Boys from Dulwich Prep & Senior children's choir
Repertoire
Vaughan Williams: Toward the unknown region for chorus & orchestra; Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
Interval
Orff: Carmina Burana
Need to know
For your visit
This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre
The Royal Festival Hall is open six days a week.
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
Monday, closed.
Plan your visit
The Royal Festival Hall is home to our largest auditorium as well as The Clore Ballroom, National Poetry Library, Members’ Lounge, Festival Bar & Kitchen, Ballroom Cafe and Skylon restaurant.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.